Ways to Explore

Two years ago, we did a program about a mysterious business in Texas that threatens companies
with lawsuits for violating its patents. But the world of patent lawsuits is so secretive, there were
basic questions we could not answer. Now we can. And we get a glimpse why people say our
patent system may be discouraging, not encouraging, innovation.

NPR reporter Laura Sydell and This American Life producer/Planet Money co-host Alex Blumberg
tell the story of Intellectual Ventures, which is accused of being the largest of the patent trolls. Executives at Intellectual Ventures insist they are not trolls, but rather, promoters of innovation. They buy patents from struggling inventors, which encourages those inventors to go out and invent more stuff. Intellectual Ventures offers an example of such an inventor, a man named Chris Crawford. But when Laura and Alex try and talk to Chris Crawford, it leads them on a long search, culminating in a small town in Texas, where they find a hallway full of seemingly empty offices with no employees. (25 minutes)Business • Economics